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Gender Politics of Military & Civilian; the Nigerian Woman

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Gender Politics of Military & Civilian; the Nigerian Woman Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1719 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2863 (Online) Vol.3, No.7, 2013 Cultural and Socio-political issues: Gender Politics of Military & Civilian; The Nigerian woman EJOVI, AUSTINE & MGBONYEBI,VOKE CHARLES POLITICAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT COLLEGE OF EDUCATION PMB 2090, AGBOR. DELTA STATE, NIGERIA,WEST AFRICA. ABSTRACT The pattern of culture and socio-political development in any given society generates peculiar structural inequalities between men and women. This goes a long way in determining the opportunities available to both sexes in the economy, politics, religion, education etc which in turn reinforces the roles played by the sexes in the prevailing culture and socio-political order. Thus paper argues and sheds light on the structural inequalities that exist between men and women in which woman’s right are abused is due largely to the patrilineal nature of the society. In Nigeria, Gender politics of military and civilian rule is largely a function of the prevailing and entrenched pattern of human rights practice, the role of the military and political gladiators cannot be overemphasized, which of course is a reflection of the cultural and socio-political values of the Nigerian society. INTRODUCTION The constitutional and legal status of women, and women’s participation in all level of governance have long been taken as key indicators of the general level of democracy, usually on the basis that since women constitute a historically oppressed and marginalized group and at least half of most national populations, their level of political representation and participation is crucial. It is important to emphasize that the term gender is not the same thing as sex because while sex refers to physical difference between males and females, gender concerns the psychological, social and cultural differences between men and women. Sex differences are natural, biological and universal while gender differences are cultural and socio-political and vary from society to society. It is on this note that Attoe-Effah Stella (2002) posits that the origin of gender inequality and subsequent abuse of women’s rights is not biology as some believed, but the way in which every culture define and evaluate female biology. The impact of the cultural and socio-political factors on women the world over and Nigeria in particular, could be associated with cases of non-Chalant government (military & civilian) assaults, rape, prostitution etc. in the present era of democratization, it is both theoretically and politically important to access the changes in gender politics accompanying the transition away from military and civilian dictatorship and towards civilian and multi-forms of government with the Nigerian women as our focal point. WOMEN AND THE NIGERIAN STATE: DEMOCRATIZATION IN THE BABANGIDA YEARS: This paper posits that British Hegemony deliberately weakened the position of women in the Nigerian society through their introduction and administration of the modern state taking a practice favourable in one segment of the country; they applied it to the whole country. The seclusion of Muslim women in the purdah was seen as the natural exclusion of women from the public sector and the total reliance of women on men. This was a wrong conception of the position of all women in Nigeria. First of all, because seclusion is not a general practice, and also because the Hausa/Fulani women still participate actively in economic matter. Secondly, it was only wealthy Muslim men who could afford to put their women in seclusion. Undoubtedly, women were excluded from some traditional matters which might necessitate some rituals/discussion from such secret societies/cults as the Or or Ogboni in Yoruba land. But then, to arrive at the final decision and implementation, women cannot be excluded or, whatever decision solely made by men would fail.(Afonja 1986) However, the colonialists not knowing the political culture prevalent in the Yoruba land/Society excluded women from all public affairs and invested totally in the men all vestiges of rulership. In a way, it is understandable, since they themselves came from a culture steeped in patriarchy and Victorian norms which did not interfere with any of the cultural restrictions traditionally placed on women. As a matter of fact, the introduction of the British common laws could be seen as additional constraints on women. Because of the ambiguity which the Christian/Islamic and common laws imposed on the people, generally women became less than full citizens. Women were treated as things to be required and disposed of at will. Hitherto, they could have redress under traditional law depending on the hat she was wearing: mother or wife. As a wife all the injustices can be heaped on her. 132 Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1719 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2863 (Online) Vol.3, No.7, 2013 Since independence, Nigeria laws have been deliberately misinterpreted and manipulated to suit the male ego. Over the years, certain myths have been perpetuated on the limitations of the female on legal matters. Perceived and treated as minors, the Nigerian women whatever her status can not bail people out of court or police custody. Married women cannot obtain Nigerian passports on their own recognition without a written permission from their husbands. Women can not insert names of their children in their passports without the expressed consult of the father of the children. There are differentials in the benefits women enjoyed in the public service with regards to men, even if they occupied similar positions. If a husband died interstate, his property, which includes the wife will be inherited by the family. However, since 1985, the Babangida administration had made some overtures to women by removing some of the discriminatory policies. For instance, women enjoy the same benefits as men if they occupy similar positions. There was also a convention that in every state cabinet, one commissioner or more must be a woman. In order to embark on the democratization process, the following institutions were set up namely; The Political Bureau, the Directorate for Mass Mobilization, for Self-Reliance, Social Justice and Economic Recovery (MAMSER), Better Life Programme (BLP) for rural and urban women among others. The BLP was established by the wife of the President, Mrs. Maryam Babangida in September 1987, it aimed to improve the living condition of women and uplift their socio-economic status. It was said that to a large extent, it had been able to achieve this. Women farmers and other women in various economic ventures were trained at the federal and state multi-private centres in their relevant fields in order to become self-sufficient. Also the BLP had a huge network which linked the various levels of government from the national level down to the village level so that women at various levels were in contact with themselves and helped to solve their problems. THE PHENOMENON OF FIRST LADY IN NIGERIA More than any period before, the first Lady syndrome became pronounced during the Babangida administration. Right from the inception of his administration, Mrs. Maryam Babangida refused to be obscured. This is a novelty in the history of first ladies in Nigeria and there were seven before her. They were “all represented mostly in absentia” (Gentle strokes, n.d:6) some were seen presiding over tea parties while others were never heard of. Maryam insisted that her place is beside her husband, Nigeria’s military President. As President of the Nigeria Army Officers Wives Association (NAOWA), she was quite assertive and galvanized the association into embarking on self-help programmes. When she became Nigeria’s first lady, she transformed an erstwhile mainly ceremonial position into a movement for the improvement of women both at urban and rural areas. Mrs Babangida was said to have “An implicit philosophy that informs every activity, every involvement and every programme for women in development” (Gentle Stokes n.d:4) she distinguished between elite women groups and masses groups perceived that the latter was the less privileged of the two and therefore her primary task was to create a useful setting for their “self development and self esteem” using the position of the first lady, she advocated along side Economic Commission for African (ECA), that the Nigerian rural women be integrated into specific development programmes than being lumped with the disabled. Today, in Nigeria, the “Office of the first lady” is officially recognized. Since Maryam was not just a feminist or a “woman libber” she ensured that her office was complementary to that of the President and its program for the improvement of the lot of Nigerians. Nonetheless, she was the leader of the pressure groups for women’s progress. Thus, in this democratic era, Mrs Babangida was able to cut a niche for herself in the public arena and laid a procedure difficult to find in any developed or developing countries. (Gentle strokes, n;d;8) Her efforts to improve the lot of women socially, morally and economically and politically through the establishment of the Better Life Program (BLP) and National Council for Women (NCW) popularized and made more glamorous the office of the first lady. When she passed on, her works and deeds spoke for her. From all over Africa, other first ladies made “Pilgrimages” to Lagos and Abuja, as it were to learn the secret of making the first lady less ceremonious and more meaningful. Probably taking a cue from her, the first ladies of some African countries became more vivid in their respective countries. The ladies which come easily to mind are Mrs. Diouf of Senegal, Mrs. Nana Rawlings of Ghana and Late Mrs. Sally Mugabe of Zimbabwe. These ladies mobilized women in their countries along the lines of BLP.
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